Letter to the Editor | Combating the common enemy of mankind through solidarity and cooperation

On June 7, China’s State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action”. Consisting of four parts, namely, “China’s fight against the epidemic: a test of fire”, “well-coordinated prevention, control and treatment”, “assembling a powerful force to beat the virus” and “building a global community of health for all”, the white paper provides a panoramic view of Chinese people’s fight against COVID-19 and the observance of people-centered governance philosophy by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been attaching high importance to COVID-19 prevention and control, and taking personal command in an all-out people’s war on the virus. Bearing in mind the supremacy of the people’s interests, the Chinese government has taken a series of decisive measures and rallied people’s strength to bolster confidence to win the battle.
Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, China has put in place a tight prevention and control system involving all sectors of society. China has released information in an open and transparent manner as required by law, and fully brought to bear the strength of the underpinning effect of science and technology. China has rapidly mobilized the manpower and resources of the whole nation, formed a strong synergy and done everything possible to protect the lives and health of its people.
Through painstaking efforts and tremendous sacrifice, China has succeeded in turning the situation around. In little more than a single month, the rising spread of the virus was contained; in around two months, the daily increase in domestic coronavirus cases had fallen to single digits; and in approximately three months, a decisive victory was secured in the battle to defend Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan. With these achievements, China has saved lives and protected health of its people, and made a significant contribution to safeguarding regional and global public health.
The 37,000-word white paper, well-structured and informative, speaks loud China’s answer to the major test of COVID-19 control and prevention.
In the face of the most severe public health emergency since the World War II, China proposes that all countries should make the choice that is right for the interests of all humanity and the well-being of our future generations. China believes that all countries should uphold the vision of a global community of shared future, support each other and join hands to build a global community of health for all.
China calls on the international community to come together, abandon prejudice and arrogance, resist scapegoating and other such self-serving artifices, and stand against stigmatization and politicization of the virus. In doing so, we will see that the spirit of solidarity, cooperation, responsibility and dedication leads people around the world towards victory in our fight against the pandemic.
China has been actively carrying out exchanges and cooperation with the international community from the outset. It has strengthened high-level communication, shared information, and cooperated in scientific research with international organizations and other countries, and done all it can to provide assistance, contributing ingenuity and strength to the global fight against the coronavirus.
Through the fight against COVID-19, China’s action not only demonstrates facts, truth and sincerity, but also provides inspiration for the world about how to deal with increasing global challenges that affect many countries.
First, it is important to put the people’s interests first. Nothing is more precious than people’s lives. At a critical time when people’s lives and health were endangered, countries need to act with a keen sense of responsibility and swiftly identify the problem. We should take multiple factors into consideration, make timely and resolute decisions, employ extraordinary measures to deal with an unusual emergency, and make every effort to safeguard people’s lives and health.
Second, more efforts are called for building a global community of shared future. Having claimed so many precious lives, COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that countries must rise above differences in geography, race, history, culture and social system. We must work together for a community with a shared future and jointly preserve Planet Earth, the only home we have. One important goal in this regard is to speed up efforts to build a global community of health for all.
Third, multilateralism must be upheld more firmly. COVID-19 drives home once again that no country, no matter how strong it is, can insulate itself from global challenges. When disasters wreak havoc, watching from an apparently safe distance and sitting idle will eventually backfire. Pointing fingers at others will only end up damaging one’s own reputation. Self-conceit and blame-shifting, instead of helping any country solve its problems, will only hurt other countries’ legitimate rights and interests. Multilateralism can gain synergy, and solidarity can see us through the current difficulties.
Fourth, epidemic control and social and economic development must be managed in a coordinated manner. The global spread of the pandemic has delivered a blow to world economy, making a severe global economic recession unavoidable. It is imperative that the international community work together to stabilize and rehabilitate the economy. Decoupling, erecting walls and deglobalization, which go against the general trend of global development, may divide the world, but will not do any good to those who advocate them. The international community should proceed with globalization and safeguard the multilateral trade system based on the WTO.
Coronavirus is still raging all over the world. What we do today determines how we will fare in the future. It is firmly believed that as long as all countries unite and cooperate to mount a collective response, the international community will succeed in overcoming the pandemic, and emerge from this dark moment of human history into a brighter future.

Shen Beili
Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Macao SAR